to quote someone else: Erwin McManus

“Authority can shape what a person does, but influence shapes who a person becomes.”

Taken from Seizing Your Divine Moment by Erwin McManus

I’ve been wrestling with this concept a lot lately. In my ministry, are the students just doing what they are told or are they becoming who God wants them to be? I think it is easy to get caught up in “behavioral modification” in youth ministry. Who doesn’t want their students to “look good” and act right? As we’ve been planning an upcoming youth rally, I’m struck by the desire for getting the students to act better. I have nothing wrong with wanting a student to stop bad habits or sinful behaviors. My struggle is with how we go about it. I am struck with how much some of the parents just want to “change” their kids on the outside. I've been seeing this for years, no matter where I am in ministry.

My struggle lately has been with trying to figure out how to help parents affect their children from the inside-out, not the outside-in. Because of my authority or the authority of a parent or a teacher, we can get a student to do a certain task. But that does not change who they are. Once the authority is gone, the outcome will be different.

I encourage you to focus on the influence, not the authority. Helping students become who God wants them to be is not about forcing them to do the right things by authority. No, its about being an influencer in their lives, showing them the truth of God's Word and God's character by living life with them.